Patent Application
20140198578
The present invention relates to a split gate flash memory cell and more particularly to a method of operating a split gate flash memory cell with a coupling gate to enhance the operations of read and erase.
Split gate flash memory cells are well known in the art. One such well known example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,130 whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
As shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,130, a split gate flash memory cell 10 comprises a semiconductor substrate 12, with a first conductivity type, such as P. A first region 14 of a second conductivity type, such as N is along the surface of the substrate 12. Spaced apart from the first region 14 is a second region 16 also of the second conductivity type N. Between the first region 14 and the second region 16 is a channel region 18. A floating gate 22 is positioned over a portion of the channel region 18 and over the first region 14 and is capacitively coupled to the first region 14. A control gate 29 has two portions: a first portion 30 is laterally adjacent to the floating gate 22 and is disposed over another portion of the channel region 18, and has little or no overlap with the second region 16. The control gate 29 has a second portion 28 which is connected to the first portion 30 and is disposed over the floating gate 22 (only extends part way over floating gate 22 to reduce capacitive coupling therebetween—i.e. only a weak capacitive coupling therebetween).
During the read operation, a zero or near zero voltage is applied to the second region 16, with a first positive voltage applied to the first region 14. A second positive voltage is applied to the control gate 29 turning on the portion of the channel region 18 underneath the control gate 29. In the event the floating gate is programmed, i.e. has stored electron charges, then the positive voltage on the control gate 29 and the positive voltage on the first region 14 are not sufficient to turn on the portion of the channel region 18 underneath the floating gate 22. The low or zero current through the channel region is detected as a first state (e.g. a 1). However, if the floating gate 22 is not programmed (i.e. it lacks stored electron charges), then the positive voltage on the control gate 29 and the positive voltage on the first region 14 are sufficient to cause the floating gate 22 to be capacitively coupled to a more positive voltage, which turns on the portion of the channel region 18 underneath the floating gate 22, thereby turning on the entire channel region 18. The current through the channel region is detected as a second state (e.g. a 0). However, as cell size has shrunk, and dimensions reduced, and the voltages lowered, increasingly it becomes difficult to turn the floating gate 22 on when it is erased. After program-erase cycling, the potential of the floating gate 22 of the erased cell becomes even lower because of electron charge trapping in the tunnel oxide (separating the floating gate 22 and control gate 29) and thus the corresponding decrease of tunneling efficiency. Thus, it is desired to have an additional gate to assist during the read operation, and still be process compatible with the above-described cell.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,855,980 and 7,315,056 each disclose a flash memory cell with a floating gate, a control gate to one side thereof and an assist gate over the first region to another side of the floating gate. However, these two patents (whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety) do not disclose the method of using that cell to enhance read and erase operations.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a method of operating a cell during read and erase operations.
In the present invention, a method of operating a flash memory cell of the type having a substrate of a first conductivity, with a first region of a second type of conductivity along a surface of the substrate. A second region of the second conductivity type is spaced apart from the first region with a channel region therebetween. A floating gate is disposed over a first portion of the channel region, and over a portion of the first region and is capacitively coupled thereto. A control gate is to one side of the floating gate. The control gate has two portions: a first portion that is disposed over a second portion of the channel region and has little or no over lap with the second region and is laterally adjacent to the floating gate, and a second portion that is disposed over the floating gate (preferably extending only partially over the floating gate to so there is minimal capacitive coupling therewith). A coupling gate is laterally adjacent to the floating gate to another side thereof and is over the first region, and is capacitively coupled to the floating gate. In the method of the present invention, a read operation is accomplished by applying a first positive voltage to both the control gate and to the coupling gate while a voltage differential is applied between the first region and the second region. In the event the floating gate is not programmed, the first positive voltage causes the channel region underneath the floating gate to be turned on, whereas if the floating gate is programmed, the first positive voltage is insufficient to cause the portion of the channel region underneath the floating gate to be turned on. In an erase operation, the first and second regions are supplied with ground voltage while a negative voltage is applied to the coupling gate and a second positive voltage is applied to the control gate. Because a negative voltage is applied to the coupling gate, and due to the strong capacitive coupling between the coupling gate and its adjacent floating gate, the second positive voltage can be lower than if no negative voltage were applied to the coupling gate. Finally, in a method of programming, a third positive voltage is applied to the first region, while a ground or low positive voltage (lower than Vcc) is applied to the second region. A voltage is applied to the control gate sufficient to turn on the channel region underneath the control gate. Electrons are then accelerated from the second region to the first region and as they near the junction of the floating gate they are abruptly injected onto the floating gate.
Referring to
In the operation of the cell 50, the following voltages can be applied. For a read operation:
The positive voltage applied to second region 16 could instead be applied to first region 14.
The following voltages can be applied for an erase operation.
The following voltages can be applied for a programming operation.
From the foregoing the following advantages of the method of the present invention can be seen.
First, during a read operation, because there is increased capacitive coupling between the coupling gate 40 and the floating gate 22, there is greater assurance of read accuracy and increase in signal to noise ratio is obtained. Second during an erase operation, because there is increased capacitive coupling between the coupling gate 40 and the floating gate 22, the tunneling layer between the floating gate 22 and the control gate 29 can be scaled thinner. This would improve the trap up and thereby improving the endurance.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described above and illustrated herein, but encompasses any and all variations falling within the scope of the appended claims. For example, references to the present invention herein are not intended to limit the scope of any claim or claim term, but instead merely make reference to one or more features that may be covered by one or more of the claims.
It should be noted that, as used herein, the terms “over” and “on” both inclusively include “directly on” (no intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween) and “indirectly on” (intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween). Likewise, the term “adjacent” includes “directly adjacent” (no intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween) and “indirectly adjacent” (intermediate materials, elements or space disposed there between), “mounted to” includes “directly mounted to” (no intermediate materials, elements or space disposed there between) and “indirectly mounted to” (intermediate materials, elements or spaced disposed there between), and “electrically coupled” includes “directly electrically coupled to” (no intermediate materials or elements there between that electrically connect the elements together) and “indirectly electrically coupled to” (intermediate materials or elements there between that electrically connect the elements together). For example, forming an element “over a substrate” can include forming the element directly on the substrate with no intermediate materials/elements therebetween, as well as forming the element indirectly on the substrate with one or more intermediate materials/elements therebetween.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/463,558, filed May 3, 2012, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/485,805, filed May 13, 2011, which are both incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61485805 | May 2011 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13463558 | May 2012 | US |
| Child | 14216776 | US |
